


Morning Star

by RavenValentino



Category: Fantasy - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 05:25:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6643093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenValentino/pseuds/RavenValentino





	1. Chapter 1

The moon made its presence into the wood as it painted everything Ivory, the stars twinkled in the cloudless sky, the emerald river glowed as it flowed through the enchanted Elven forest, the owls called lowly into the night and they were being answered by the calls of the woodland wolves who prowled the night. The ground was covered in a soft layer of fallen leaves which had changed a shade from green to orange. 

The forests tranquillity was soon disturbed by the panicked footfalls of boots and paws. The temperature soon dropped as the night began to get colder, their breath could be seen as they panted and ran from their foe. Just as they thought the path was clear they tripped on a root and fell with a thud on the floor, splitting the knees of their Lynx trousers; they dragged themselves up disturbing some wisps which made their home on the floor. 

To make things worse it began to rain, the cold liquid soaking the earth. The figure flicked their Scarlett hood up and continued, the next town was about a mile away. The figure wrapped their arms around their waist trying to cease their shivering. Their fiery lava beast looked up at them as they begged their owner to carry on moving and find somewhere to shelter. 

The Lightning split the sky and the thunder rumbled, the rain began to dribble down their face washing their war paint from their eyes and face. They decided to stay in an uninhabited cave which was filled with the bones of animals, creatures and beings their bones still having scraps of flesh and hair left on them. The fiery beast only cuddled up closer warming their owner up and ceasing their shivers temporarily. The cave dripped and smelt like damp, their beast found it hard to be sheltered from the drips considering it veins would hiss as the water made contact with its skin and release a little bit of steam into the air, a Yelp would escape the creature every now and then causing it to only fidget more. 

The cold rain soon turned to harsh hail which literally bounced off the forest floor, but made a nice soothing sound, lulling the figure and their pet to sleep. The night passed quickly and the sun was soon rising, the birds were chirping loudly and the flying beasts were just waking up, stretching their limbs and wings. The figure had just woken up and could hear the soft singing of the trees. 

They stood up stretching and patting their companions head. They stalked outside and saw paw prints in the ground, they begin to panic as they knew that their foe wasn't far ahead of them. They hauled their sword out and took a detour around the prints, they stopped by the river watching the ruby fish swim in the crystal like water, they cupped their hands and splashed the water on their face. They looked at their reflection in the water, they looked tired and worn out. 

The sleeves on their shirt were ripped and torn, the bottom of their Scarlett cloak was shredded from the thorn field they ran through, the figure knew they would have to abandon the cloak- as much as they didn't want to since it was seen as a family heirloom; they undid the chain from the wolf clasp and it slid from their shoulders causing it to fall to the floor with a thud, they dragged it towards the river and dropped it in since they knew it would go back to their home where it belonged as the river flowed through it. They watched it disappear before continuing their journey. The sun soon glittered gold onto the land drying it from last nights weather.

The leaves crunched under their black buckled boots, their fiery beast whined in detest as they began yet another trek. "Fine shape shift into something else so I can carry you" They sighed slightly ordering their beast. Their beast soon turned into a water Kestrel and sat perched on their shoulder. The birds feathers glowing blue and moving around the companions body. The wood soon turned into a path with blossom trees on either side, the wind blew gently and caused blossom petals to dance through the air and paint the path pink, a few petals found their way into the figures long dark red hair which was pulled back into a ponytail held fast with a gold clasp encrusted with jade and sapphire.

A few soldiers dressed in ebony armour rode past on great Friesian steeds which were clad in red and black tack, they clip clopped by not giving the figure one glance. The figure soon realised that they were not far from the towns gates since there were was a lot of commotion- especially in the market square since there were different stalls calling for everyone's attention to come and look at the goods that they had to offer. The companion soon turned back into its fire beast form and stalked next to its owner. It began to glow brightly as it became protective and agitated by the environment it was in. 

There were many beings walking around the town but as they passed they glanced at the figure, who began to feel uncomfortable and the beast was sensing this and he only became more uptight and ferocious. The figure kept looking at the floor and kept their arms wrapped around their tiny torso as they were insecure and felt uncomfortable. The foe could be anywhere and could be anyone, they were now vulnerable. 

Their companion walked closer so their owner was reassured that he was there for them if they needed him. Their fingers soon rested on the spiny back of the creature, the warmth radiating through their gloved fingers and up their arm making them relax. The owner and the companion were connected they felt everything that one another was feeling whether it was emotions or injuries or even thoughts. 

They understood each other and that was all that mattered. They knew that the beast was there for them, just as the beast knew that they were there for him.


	2. 2

Natori Grazenwood had paid the inn keeper a great amount to stay, she was sat in the corner with a bear skin flask full of her native spring water, since her body wasn't tolerant to anything else. Her beast had turned into a water kestrel so it could perch on the beams above her in the tavern and would remain undetected and his job was to make sure everything was still in order and nothing was a threat. 

The clock on the church tower chimed as it was now midday and all the weary folk who worked on their farms took a break and came piling into the tavern nosily, waking Natori from her day dream, instinctively her hand clasped the hilt of her knife as she felt more secure with the blade in her hand but everyone just walked past her with out a second glance, her aching knuckles soon relaxed and she laced her fingers around the Hyde flask once more. 

Her beast soon began to sing as her pursuer entered into the tavern. He was dressed drably and you would've thought he was poor, he had a black shabby wolf skin cloak hanging from his shoulders, a worn scabbard hanging at his side which housed a mighty dragon blade, the only thing showing he had wealth. Natori tried hiding her face but it was too late he had caught her scent and managed to catch a glance, unknowingly to the young elf. Her beast had flown down, turning into a lion of the earth, it's mane was emerald moss, it's eyes burning yellow and it's body made of mottled bark causing it's body to be cracked, the claws were made up of tiny spines almost resembling thorns. 

"Run!" Her beast roared. Natori bolted up from her seat, pushing past the crowd and she ran outside cutting a near by oxen free and galloping away from the town, she began to worry that her beast wasn't going to survive but that soon became a realty as she felt her companion being torn away from her almost as if though someone had torn something from her body, she pulled the oxen's reins hard- so much so the beast nearly threw her over its head. She tried desperately to control her breathing as she began to hyperventilate and thought she would pass out. 

"Ar Natori I knew I would find you eventually" the voice of her foe rang loudly behind her, she had no where to run, no where to escape she was trapped. Natori felt the power grow inside of her as the warmth and strength began bleeding all over her body, it filtered into every muscle and joint, her eyes glowed golden, she dismounted the oxen which soon dropped dead. 

Her foe only stared at her. "That's the elf I remember!" He exclaimed. The power soon incinerated her gloves leaving them nothing more then two piles of ash on the floor, she focused her energy before firing a ball of power at the threat in front of her who sat astride a giant blue mountain goat, it's horns ebony as were the ends of its fur. It bleated as she advanced, it pawed the ground before running at her, it's head bowed low; it planned on impaling her, but she was quick and removed the horns from the Rams head, it let out a cry of agony before a torrent of lava spewed from the liberated horns.

The beast soon collapsed forcing its rider to dismount its corpse. "You will pay for that!" He exclaimed advancing towards Natori, she had stopped in a ring fire in which she had created to keep her foe away from her, but he just glided through the circle and hauled his mighty dragon blade from its scabbard and just as he thought he had a clean shot a blade soon rose to meet his, the blades sparking as they made contact. Natori held her Eagle blade in front of her face fighting against the strength of her opponent as he pushed his blade to hers willing it to embed itself in her skull. Craftily she rested her hand on the hilt of his sword warming it with her hand concentrating the power in that area. Her opponent squealed and dropped the blade as he was surprised to feel the precious metal burning his skin.

"You fight dirty has anyone ever told you that!" He stated head butting Natori causing her to drop her guard for a few seconds and soon went stumbling back a little disorientated, this giving her opponent time to catch up, he punched her in the jaw with a right upper cut, followed by a punch to her stomach causing the young elf to buckle over and wrapping her slim arms around her stomach, Natori spat blood before finally collecting herself and focusing the attack on her foe she summoned her power once again from deep with in the earth, this beginning to weaken and drain her greatly but   
anything to relieve the foe from her life. 

But just as her eyes opened from the concentration a figure dressed in ebony stood in front of her, they had their back to her and all she could see was their long silvery blue hair, they had their sword sticking out of her foes chest, they retracted their sword and he dropped to the ground, the figure soon turned to her. "You have too much power residing in you, quick take my hands and transfer the power over to me" he advised her taking her hands gently in his leather bound ones, she hesitated before taking in a deep breath and the power transferred over to him making his veins glow golden against his pale skin, his eyes glowing against the closed lids. 

Natori was intrigued but wouldn't allow her to drop her guard, she felt her knees collapse from under her the results of the power taking its toll, the figure soon followed her down and put his hands on her shoulders and steadied her, trying to keep her from passing out and trying to get her to focus on him. 

"Wh.. Who are you?" She stuttered. 

"I am Drailan Winlaeth" he replied.


	3. 3

Drailan stayed by Natoris side and decided to build a fire to keep her warm while he went to discard the body, he looted the corpse of its wolf skin cloak before draping it over the shoulders of the young elf who was resting silently. Drailan wrapped the body in cloth and then weighed it down with a sack of stones which he attached to it and threw it in to the nearest lake by them. The figure whistled and called his ebony Hippogriff who soon came plummeting from the sky creating a light breeze which fluttered the dried leaves and waking the elf slightly.

"You're leaving?" She panicked. 

"Not yet" He answered, walking over to Natori and kneeling next to her, gently brushing a strand of red hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. Her curiousness began to spark again, many questions began to reel through her mind, but she had too many questions to pick one to start with. Drailan cooked a deer on a spit and Natori was beginning to wake up. The day was beginning to draw to a close and dusk was soon drawing in. "How are you feeling?" He asked watching her closely. 

"I'm fine" she said attempting to stand up but nearly fell over if Drailan hadn't acted quickly and caught her, pulling her to his side. "Th... Thank you" she stuttered. 

"I want to show you something" he told her, helping her walk to the lake. The fireflies glittered around the wood that eve, Drailan set Natori down on a log and then sat beside her. "Why am here?" She inquired. 

"Watch" he answered pointing to the lake. It began to have light appear above it, Natori was taken aback by the spectacle which unfolded infront of her. 

"What are they?" She asked. 

"Firelight fairies" he answered.

"They're beautiful" she commented as she watched them dance on the surface of the lake, they suddenly heard rustling in the wood but as it turned out it was a family of unicorns, a mare, a stallion, two fillies and a very young foal. They lowered their heads elegantly so they could place their majestic heads into the lake to drink the sparkling water, the moon light mystical horses were reflected perfectly in the crystal water. 

Natori found herself moving closer to Drailan who just sat there and allowed her to even if it did make him slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't long before the young elf found herself leaning on the shoulder of Drailan, her eyes were beginning to close as she was exhausted from the events of the day. Drailan just stared at the scene in front of him and could hear the owls calling softly into the night, the crickets singing happily. Soon the unicorns retreated which Drailan took as a sign to head back to their makeshift camp but he was going to leave Natori that night, she was okay and he felt she no longer needed him. 

He gently mounted his Hippogriff before taking off into the starry sky. Natori slept soundly thinking she was safe, the dying fire keeping her warm but she was going to have a shock when she woke up. Wolves began to prowl around Natori she was vulnerable and easy prey, a wolf accidentally trod on a twig snapping it and it woke her up, she sat up flicking leaves up as she did, a few of the timid wolves backed away while the alphas approached and were about to nip the young elves legs but Natori kicked out at the wolves managing to make contact they pined and only became more aggressive. 

She could suddenly hear the footfalls of something fast coming towards her, she hauled her sword from its scabbard and was ready to defend herself but as the creature apparead it turned out to be her fire beast. "Afrit?" She asked a little surprised as her companion came lolloping towards her, the beast only nodded with its jaws gaping open and it's tongue hanging out the side of its mouth which dripped a lava like substance but as it hit the ground it incinerated the leaves. "You're alive? How?" She asked but before the beast could show her, a wolf grabbed her leg roughly digging it's teeth into her tender skin, she screamed loudly alerting nearby feeding water rhinos, the wolf began to drag her away. Her fire beast pounced and dug it's fangs into the wolfs neck tearing at it's throat and tearing it off Natori but it wouldn't let go with out leaving its mark on her stomach which had been shredded, the wolf soon bowed to the power of the beast and howled before leaving and the whole of the pack following. 

Natori was laying on her back wheezing, blood escaping her chest cavity as every breath she took. Drailan was flying over to the city of the water elves, beginning to regret his decision. What if he was wrong? What if anything attacked Natori? He wouldn't be able to forgive himself for leaving someone so vulnerable alone, but he wasn't supposed to meddle in the affairs of elves only the affairs of his kind. His Hippogriff felt the sudden shift in the saddle and his head being wrenched around before heading back to the forest. 

Natori's beast was staring at her and was pining for his owner but a formed in Natori's mind. She motioned for her beast to come over, the beast obeyed her and sat at her side, she cut the beasts throat causing it to squeal she managed to collect its lava like blood in her hands; burning them slightly and then placed the lava on her stomach cauterising her wounds for now, her beast began to heal its throat and through its blood she could see how it came back to life. The figure chasing her had killed it but as the beast was left for dead it managed to put itself all back together again. 

Drailan wasn't far from the site where Natori was attacked, her precious Ivory blood had soaked the earth and had mixed with the wolfs blood to create a rather horrible looking concoction this is where Drailan touched down. His Hippogriffs feet soaked with the liquid he dismounted and began to panic since Natori was no where in sight.


	4. 4

So with the help of Afrit, Natori managed to make it to the town of Soraya the home of the fire elves, by this point she was weak. She really missed her mount Agripin he was an ebony Friesian steed with a red mane and tail, but his hooves were made out of pure iron and the blood pumping around his body was Mercury, the stripe on his face was pure silver as were the four socks to match but he had been caught by the Dryads and taken away from her for ever. 

The wolf howled loudly since he knew that he would get the attention of the elves, fire elves came running out and crowded around Natori, she panicked at first since she didn't know what was going on and instinctively reached for her sword. "We're not going to hurt you" one said.

The elves took Natori from her beast. She fought against their grip but her beast just encouraged her to go. As soon as she realised that it was futile she stopped and allowed their kind hands to help. One female elf took Natori to the healing springs. Natori disrobed and walked into the water, it began to bubble and her wounds hiss, she felt a burning sensation and light was lit dimly in the water, her wounds were healing but she would need rest after.

Drailan searched the wood desperately, trying to find the blood haired elf but to his disappointment she was gone. He thought the wolves had got to her since there was a drag mark in the floor and her sword laying next to it, he dropped to his knees and felt a knot in his throat develop, the elf could be dead because of him. Drailan had no choice but to mount his beast and flew off with a heavy heart. Natori was resting in one of the many chambers with in the palace of the fire elves, Afrit was sleeping silently next to her on the floor. 

Natori was listening to the wolves howling lowly, her hand which hung from the bed stroked the back of her beast. Natori soon sat up and swung her feet around so they were hanging over the side, she stood up and steadied herself before walking out to the balcony on her chambers, the night was warm, she leant her arms against the stone starring out at the purple glowing forest, the moon was full and high, no cloud in the sky to obstruct it. Natori heard the soft best of wings and saw a Hippogriff fly over.

She wondered to herself if that was Drailan, she wished it was so she could give him a piece of her mind for leaving her to the wolves. Drailan flew over the forest desperately trying to find her, he soon came to the town of Soraya, he flew over the palace, he circled around and glided the best around till finally landing it in the courtyard. A fire elf took his beast, he asked immediately if they had found an elf by the name of Natori. One of them answered telling him that she was resting in one of the chambers of the palace. He ordered the elf to take him to her and so They did but when they came to her room she was once again gone, the balcony doors were the only left open and were swinging open gently, the silk curtains dancing softly in the breeze. 

Natori however was a few miles out, her beast at her side. He trotted happily next to his owner. Natori had no idea where she was heading, she had managed to find a stray soldiers horse who was clad in black and blue armour, the light bay was under her command, every light touch of the stirrup or the reins the horse would swiftly transition into a walk or trot, he would majestically turn his head in the direction that she wanted to go and his obedient feet would travel in that direction. The horse almost felt free and liberated from the army, he began to foam at the mouth and Natori took that as a sign to stop, she dismounted the horse gently and led him over to a river. 

The horse lowered his head and began to drink the cool sparkling liquid, Natori then took it upon herself to remove the armour of the magnificent beast, the horses light coat shone, his hooves glittered and his eyes twinkled. Once they were done at the river, Natori gently mounted the horse bare back and walked the rest of the way which bought them to another town but little did she know that she was crossing a territory in which she was not welcome. The Ravens cawed loudly as she calmly walked through the gates, the sabre tooth lions woke up and began to let growls ripples out from their chests. 

 

The light bay reared up and Natori hung onto his long thick mane for dear life, the horse then bolted away from the attacking forces as Goblins now raced towards them and tried all they could to pull the horse and Natori down. Afrit had changed into his woodland eagle and flew off to find help, knowing that he could find help from Drailan. Who had just left Soraya and was flying over the territory of the Goblins and heard the desperate neigh of a horse and a girl screaming, with a harsh nudge in the ribs the hippogriff cawed loudly and dived to the scene. Natori was using the only weapon she had and that was her knife. 

 

Drailan jumped off the still moving beast and helped Natori and her mount to defeat the foul and vicious goblins, they both began to fight back to back, but a goblin began to drag Natori away. 

 

"Natori!" Drailan yelled and threw her sword to her, she managed to catch it but it was a struggle, but once the sword was in her grip she severed the arms from the goblins holding her, who screeched in pain, she slaughtered the oncoming Goblins. Her steed was covered in ebony blood and so was Drailan, the fight soon drew to a close and just as Drailan thought he was going to receive a thank you, Natori marched over and punched him the face, cracking his jaw and making him fall to the ground from force.

Drailan was surprised and looked up at her. "What was that for?" He inquired. 

"For leaving me to the wolves!" She snarled, wrapping her bleeding knuckles in cloth and cleaning her blade, she was about to mount her horse when Drailan began to beg her to stop. 

"Stay with me, I can protect you" He told her. 

"How do I know you wont leave me again?" She asked, striding over to him and resting her boot on his chest and pointing the tip of her sword into his throat.

He gulped. "You have my word"


	5. 5

Natori offered a bloodied hand down to Drailan and he accepted with his gloved one. "You wont let go?" He asked her. 

"No" She smiled. So with her strength she pulled him up off the ground. 

"Where are you headed?" He quizzed her. 

"No place special just Valenthia" She answered.

"Why there?" He asks as he becomes intrigued.

"None of your concern!"She replied placing the sword back into its scabbard. 

"You know if I am to ride with you, you're going to have to tell me" Drailan said following her as she walked to her horse rubbing his nose, she grabbed a fistful of mane and tried to pull herself up but she failed, Drailan tried to hide his smirk but he only received a punch in his shoulder. 

"Fine help me onto my horse and I will tell you" she compromised. 

"Okay" he agreed. So he helped her onto her horse and just as she thought she could take off Drailan had sneakily put a rope around her horses neck and pulled the beast back. 

"Drailan!" She snarled as the horse came to a halt and nearly threw her over his head. 

Drailan mounted his beast and still holding the rope to her horse they both walked side by side heading to Valenthia. "So?" He asked. 

"So what?" She growled, obviously still upset for the fact that he tied a rope around her horses neck. 

"Why are you heading to Valenthia you promised you would tell me" He smiled. 

"Fine, I have a few errands to run and a few missions to complete. Since the foe no longer follows me I am free to do what I was doing before and besides the King wishes to speak with me" She explained. 

"King Salandras?" He inquired a little surprised. 

"Yes" She nodded tucking her hair behind her ear. They rode in silence for most of the journey till Drailan decided it was time they rest. Natori collected some fire wood and Drailan began to light the fire. Natori was slumped against a log one leg slightly bent up while the other was stretched out, she began to carve a wooden horse from a log which was sat next to her, but soon gave up and threw it aside, then stared into the flames and listened to the fire crackling as it ate away the wood.

She found herself drifting off to sleep, Drailan just sat there poking the fire trying to keep it alive and admired Natori and just as he moved closer to her, her eyes shot open and growled "really?" 

"What? I thought you were shivering I was trying to keep you warm" He asked innocently. 

"Yeah of course" She said rolling her eyes and moving away from him. Drailan didn't understand why she didn't like the affection he was showing to her but brushed it off anyway even if he was slightly hurt. Natori turned over so her back was facing him but a smile soon appeared on her face, it wasn't long till she slipped off into the world of dreams and instead of sweet dreams they were nightmares. Her town was on fire everything was burning, everyone was screaming and half her town was dead, Natori found herself laying in the ash on her back, looming over her was a Smokey opaque figure it didn't have a face but a skull sat in place instead, it's eyes were white and it's pupils dilated as it looked Natori over. 

Her eyes opened slowly and she nearly screamed if the creature hadn't put its hand over her mouth, it had a skeletons hand with talons on the end of the bony fingers, they dug into her soft flesh, lacerating her skin making her taste her own blood, she coughed at the horrible taste and nearly threw up, she attempts to stab the creature and manages to run the creature through, it screams in a high pitched manner and disappears, Natori scrambles up and begins to run and that was the point the big ebony wolf stalked behind her, this was her foe. 

Drailan hears Natori talking in her sleep and realises she's restless and makes him question what she's dreaming, she begins to fidget, so he carefully pads over quietly just like her foe and rests a hand on her shoulder and shakes her gently. "Natori wake up" he whispered softy in her ear. Natori woke up with a start and nearly punched Drailan again if he hadn't had restrained her arms and held them fast Natori was breathing fast and sweating slightly. 

"Wh.... What happened?" She quizzed him looking up at Drailan with frightened eyes. She looked at his black eye and asked "did I punch you again?" 

"No, you were having a nightmare" He replied releasing her arms and rubbing her back gently. 

"When are we setting off?" She inquired noticing the sun hadn't quite risen yet. 

"A few hours yet, go back to sleep" he said laying down and pulling Natori into his chest and locking his arm around her so she felt safe and comfortable. She managed to sleep peacefully till the morning. Drailan was just waking up and he panicked since Natori was no longer laying in his arms, he looked everywhere for her but he heard a splash in the lake and padded over hiding behind a bush and saw the back of the young elf, her long red hair cascading down her back and the water running down her back, she soon turned around as she made her way back to shore and Drailan took that as his cue to leave since he didn't want to pry on Natori. 

By the time he got back to camp Natori was sitting in front of a newly started fire her hair put back into its clasp and fastened into a ponytail, an hour later and they were ready to leave, this time Drailan didn't bother tying the rope around her horses neck since he felt he could finally trust her after last night. They rode in silence for half an hour till Drailan broke the silence which Natori was a little annoyed about. "So you going to tell me what you dreamt last night?" He asked. 

"Nope" she answered nudging her horse in the ribs to go faster and walk ahead of Drailan and causing the Hippogriff to lift his head up and kick his front feet out while letting out a high pitched caw. 

"Stubborn elf!" He cursed.


	6. 6

They passed through the forest of Tranquillity. As her horse lolloped in the grass. All of a sudden blue, orange and pink butterflies flew up from the grass, they flew around Natoris head in a circle, almost creating a garland of butterflies instead of flowers, she looked over at Drailan who only smiled at her, the butterflies soon flew away from her. Natori was leaping and bounding over fallen trees and logs. The sun shone through the opaque leaves creating a shadow of different shapes, the wind blew gently causing ripples on the clear stream where the rainbow trout swam, the sun catching their scales making them glitter.

Soon Natori's horse ran out of steam and was foaming at the mouth and panting hard, she gently tugged his mane and he slowed into a halt, he soon lowered his head and stuck his snout in the quick paced stream using his tongue to lap up the cool soothing liquid which quenched his burning throat. Drailan rode up next to her and patted her sweating steeds neck. 

"Does he have a name?" Drailan inquired. 

"No, because I rescued him" she answered. 

"Why don't you give him one?" He suggested. 

"Like what?" She asked as she was unsure.

"Aquiline?" He suggested. 

"Meaning?" She asked. 

"The Lord of Eagles" Drailan replied. Her horse lifted his head up and neighed.

"I think he approves" She giggled. 

"Me to" Drailan answered leaning over to stroke her mounts nose. Natori just smiled as she watched him interact with her mount. 

"What's the name of your beast?" She asked a little curious. 

"Anubis Fireborn" He replied as the beast reared up and showed his wings off to Natori, Aquiline soon reared up almost as if though he was replying to Anubis, but for the first time Anubis bowed to Natori and Aquiline followed suit out of respect for him. Natori was very proud of her mount since he knew manners and she could tell on Drailans face that he was very fond of Anubis. "Now Anubis and Aquiline know each other I think we should be on our way to Valenthia" Drailan said.

"Okay" She replied racing past him and galloping ahead of him, of course Anubis saw this as a game and flew up into the sky, Natori panicked slightly as she turned around expecting to see Drailan riding behind her but she heard a caw loudly above her and she saw above her that he was flying, she only smiled nudging Aquiline harder in the ribs as she raced across the ground causing dust and mud to flick up. In front of them was a tunnel with grass growing on top, so Natori got ready to leap up on to the top, crouching on Aquilines back making him neigh in detest, her feet made contact with the tunnel and she ran the full length of it before running out of path but landing on the back of Aquiline with a thud, Drailan just rolled his eyes and carried on flying above her till he was stopped by the cliffs which were beginning to narrow and this made it hard for Anubis to manoeuvre so he resulted in walking behind Aquiline.

As they entered the rocky cavern the hooves of Aquiline and Anubis could be heard echoing around the place bouncing off the rocks, Aquiline stumbled a few times causing Anubis to caw loudly as he panicked slightly. It was almost as if though the two beasts had formed a bond. At one point Natori was laid along the back of Aquiline who kept his head held low not just to balance the rider but also so he could stretch his neck, since Natori kept a tight grip on his mane as she rode. 

The cavern felt like it went on and on, in some areas the rock had grown over each other plunging the riders and their mounts into darkness, the only thing making light was Afrit in his fire wolf form, he was forced to go first and he lit their path for them, Aquiline tried not to stand on the tip of his tail but he clipped it every now and then causing the fire beast to turn and growl but if Natori wouldn't have said something then she would have a fight on her hands, they soon reached the end of the cavern, the sunlight shone harshly bright into their eyes, so much so that Drailan and Natori had to shelter their eyes from the sun. 

They wandered through the luscious green grass, watching as the snow white stags would drift by, the water was like liquid crystal and rippled gently as the water flowed, the birds sung loudly and happily. "This seems a nice a place as any to stop and relax" Drailan proposed as they halted their horses and Drailan helped Natori off her horse. Drailan untacked his horse while Natori sat by the river bank with Afrit as a water kestrel who kept diving in and out of the water. Once Drailan had fed Anubis and Aquiline, he sat with Natori who rested her head on his shoulder. 

"I am sorry I punched you" she said resting her hand on her knee. 

"It's okay I probably deserved it" he replied resting his head on hers softly. The wind whipped around the trees causing a cacophony of rustling to erupt and a sea of leaves soon fell from their branches cloaking Drailan and Natori they both just looked at each other and laughed, a few minutes later and Natori decided to fill her cow Hyde flask up but Drailan walked over and pushed her into the water causing her to scream and Aquiline's head shot up as did Anubis' and both creatures came galloping over only to find their masters in a water fight. 

Natori cupped her hands and threw water at Drailan soaking him from head to toe, smiling the whole time. Their beasts only snorted and walked back to where they were resting in each others company. All the while Drailan and Natori were fighting, even Afrit got involved he would use his power to manipulate the water and caused it to jump up at Drailan. 

"That's not fair" he whined. 

"Is if you have a pet" Natori smiled.


	7. 7

Once Natori and Drailan had dried off in the sun they mounted their steeds and headed off to the city of Valenthia. The forest went on for miles but the shade was pleasant from the hot sun of the afternoon. Aquiline and Anubis were both tired so both Drailan and Natori thought it would be best if they dismounted and allowed their beasts backs some rest. Drailan was peeling an apple as he walked removing the skin before throwing the skinless apple into the air and Anubis caught it in between his beak, squashing it with his strength causing some juice to splash on to Drailans ebony cloak. 

Drailan began to admire Natori as she looked around at everything in the wood, the way she was intrigued by everything. Natori even stopped to look at a Dragonfly plant, its petals were in the shape of a Dragonfly, the colours matched the name perfectly, she bent down elegantly to smell the flowers scent and judging by her smile the plant smelt nice, Drailan stood there and admired her smile. He thought to himself how beautiful she was and how he would never allow the elf to slip through his fingers again, he would do all he could to protect the precious being. 

Valenthia was now only a two day ride away and Drailan thought it was time he would hunt for game, simply because they had been living off nothing but fruit and they now needed more to keep them going. He looked at the young elf and noticed her yawning, he only smiled and turned to her. "Lets rest and don't worry about taking care of Aquiline I'll see to that" He said. So Drailan found a secluded spot where fallen trees were which they could use as seats and could shelter themselves from the wind and they would prove to keep the fire going. 

So once Natori was asleep under the protection of Anubis and Aquiline, Drailan decided to go hunting, he searched his saddle bags for the potion that kept him in his seeming human form and he spied the red liquid at the bottom of the bag, he took it out and walked a few metres from camp, he uncorked the bottle with a 'pop' and then drank the liquid. His skin peeled away to reveal his true scaly skin and the thing he truly is. His long silvery white mane became thick black tendrils which fell from his head, his eyes lost their colour and became nothing more than a sickening yellow with a black thick line in the middle, his nose was reduced to nothing more than to slits on his face, his finger nails were replaced with long sharp claws, his teeth became jagged points and were capable of tearing through flesh, his colic bone had elongated into a tail and was covered in scales. 

He dropped his sword feeling he no longer needed his sword to defend himself, he would just use his claws and teeth to kill the prey with. His sense of smell had been intensified and magnified he could now pick up every scent that was around him he could smell the blood of a Doe and figured she must be injured so he followed the scent to where he found her breathing her last, she tried calling for help but to no prevail no stag would come to save her, with one final attempt her breath left her and she died. 

Drailan thanked the forest gods for their sacrifice and then dragged her back to camp, he set the stag down and then rifled through his saddle bag and found the elixir to turn him back into his original human state, he drank the blue liquid and his skin healed over the scales, the colour returned to his eyes and his hair soon became a long flowing mane of ivory. He took his knife from the saddle bag and began to gut the deer before finally skinning her. Natori was only waking up and the smell of venison filled the forest. 

"What smells so good?" She asks. 

"Venison" Drailan answered not even looking Natori in the eye. It had been a long time since he had been in his Slitherian form and it made him feel like a monster and he knew that if Natori ever saw that form she would probably run from him. 

"What's wrong?" She asked sitting next to him.

"Nothing" He answered looking at the Doe on the spit. Deep down he resented the beast he was, he wanted nothing more than to be rid of it. If only Natori could feel what he was feeling inside then and only then would she feel and understand how he doe, once the animal was cooked Drailan began to serve the meat between them but Natori (one who doesn't eat much) only took it and tried to eat as much as she could. Once she had enough she put the meat to lay to rest on the forest floor for the scavengers who happen to find it, they could see the sunset from where they were sitting. Both Natori and Drailan watched as the sun said its goodbyes and was getting ready to present its smile to a new day. 

Natori leaned her head on the shoulder of Drailan who slithered his arm around her back he thought that she was going to remove his arm but she didn't. Drailan then rested his head on hers, the sun soon disappeared and so did all the light, the forest soon grew dark except for the fire but soon the forest began to glow dimly at first till it grew brighter and brighter, it lit the trees, the very ground they sat on and the fire was soon extinguished, and a green like smoke arose from the fire before the fire came back to life. Drailan had reached for his sword but Natori only rested her hand on his and advised him "don't you will only upset the forest gods, this is their doing we are safe, nothing will attack us" .

Drailan soon relaxed and rested his hand on his stomach before finding himself drifting off into the world of dreams, he felt safe and knowing that Natori was by his side he could rest easy.


End file.
